LYN Jones hailed Newport Gwent Dragons’ win in a tense derby with Cardiff Blues as a massive step forward for the region.

The Dragons edged out their fiercest rivals 25-21 at Rodney Parade to reach the semi-finals of the European Rugby Challenge Cup for the second time, matching the efforts of Paul Turner’s 2007 side.

They fought back from 14-3 down to take the spoils thanks to scores by wing Hallam Amos, flanker Nic Cudd and a penalty try, plus some determined defence in a nervy finale.

The Dragons must now wait to see whether they will be travelling to London Irish or Edinburgh, who meet in Reading tomorrow night, and Jones is relishing another chapter in a European adventure that has seen his charges down Stade Francais, Newcastle and Bucharest.

“I am immensely proud of the players and the effort,” he said. “The commitment and attitude in this competition has been exemplary.

“We weren’t perhaps at our best today, I think it’s fair to say, but we still had too much for the Blues.

“It’s massive for the region, a region that’s bouncing back from many years of being unsuccessful.

“It’s so important to the business, so important to the supporters and players. We’ve got lots of inexperienced boys.

“It was a big game for us, not just because it was a quarter-final of a prestigious tournament, but also because it’s a local derby and everybody knows each other’s games inside out.

“There wasn’t a great standard of rugby and you saw a lot of nervous players out there but we showed enough to cross the line in the end.”

“Big games are about big players and the Blues had a lot of big players there and I thought that would have been the difference. But we showed enough in the end just to cross the line.

Jones admitted the Dragons’ performance was far from perfect and believes Hallam Amos’ well-crafted score just before the break was pivotal in earning a semi-final place.

“It was everything and a game changer,” he said. “Nothing had gone right for us, there was 30-plus on the clock and we had lost Andrew Coombs earlier in the game.

“It changed the flow of the game and the mentality, with the Blues fading away as we grew in character and strength.”

One negative on the afternoon for the Dragons was the injury suffered by lock Andrew Coombs in the opening stages after the Wales international dislocated his left knee at a lineout.

He tweeted after the game: “Devastated to have only played a small part in the game but tremendously proud of the boys today, great win and support.”